Just jumped in a purchased some road shoes. I have had the opportunity to try speed plays a while ago and while I quite liked the system I had a few issues with durability of the bottom plate and that was only a couple of weeks of riding in them !!!!!

I own a pair of the shimano style cleats so will definitely be giving them a good work out first. The speedplays system is going to cost 140 (pedals) + 40 (fore aft extender plate) + (20) (keep on kovers) = $200

My wife uses Speedplay coffee shop covers - they are extremely durable, but can't be left on the cleats. These look like a good idea, and at only $17.95 they don't have to be too durable if they prolong the life of an expensive set of cleats. I'll try them.

Ordered: Shipping is a ridiculous $13.25, but these have the potential to save big bucks on road worn cleats.

jacks1071 wrote:Wear on the base plate is really a non issue unless you are going to take up tap-dancing and plan to practice in your cycling shoes.

The retainer springs will wear out long before your base plate is ready to let go, and you get a new base plate included with the replacement cleat.

The only reason I'd see to carry the covers would be if you were worried about slipping over in them, they are slippery on tiles but as long as you are careful its not a worry.

You haven't seen what my wife does to her cleats. Wear is a serious issue...

Tell her to ride her bike instead of pushing it everywhere!

Those base plates are soft so they do mash up and look horrible but to wear the plate to the point of requireing replacement, prior to the spring being worn out - its unlikely unless she walks the hills?

jacks1071 wrote:Those base plates are soft so they do mash up and look horrible but to wear the plate to the point of requireing replacement, prior to the spring being worn out - its unlikely unless she walks the hills?

Wrong - my wife is a very strong rider. I've yet to see her walk up any hill. I've also yet to see a worn out spring in her cleats.

Never had a problem with the springs, in fact on a couple of occasions I re-used the old springs so I didn't have to put up with the 'bedding in' time (they clip easier when the edges of the spring are rounded off). Apart from many changes due to the front edge of the plate being worn off, the only other time I've had to change a cleat was when I wore out the chamfer in the bottom plate hole to the point it would catch the pedal and make it hard to clip in.

I also don't believe those photo's on the website. No way those cleats are six months/4000 miles old, their 'worn' pic is how my new cleats look after a couple of days, and there is no wear showing on the edges of the the middle screw slot of the base plate.

That being said... looks like a good idea, I'll probably buy a set and try them out.

My current set of speedplay cleats are 2+ years old, with a 4000km tour of the UK in that mix. They are still going strong. Why waste money and time stuffing around with accessories? I bought the cafe covers but dont use them...one more thing to carry and remember.

I made my own modification to a set of coffee shop covers (or at least got a friend with a band saw to do it for me) and have ended up with something remarkably similar to the keep on kovers. I feel more secure using them as I found the bare cleats were very "slippy" on the road for stops/starts. Plus I don't have to remember to stick the covers in my pocket (or remember to take them off my shoes after coffee). The original covers were pretty much useless for keeping dirt and sand out of the cleats so I think I have gained more than I lost with the mod.

I do walk a bit in my cleats (on wooden floor boards, out to the garage, refilling bottles on the road etc) and find they do get mud and grit in them so might give these a go when i got some spare cash .

Bought the Keep On Kovers.... lasted about nine weeks. It's a soft plastic, they looked pretty beaten up after only a week, yesterday a piece of loose plastic got in the way when clipping in and then I found holes in them.

I'm going to modify some Coffee covers instead and see how that works out.

NEVER NEVER NEVER walk in pea gravel in cycling shoes when it has been raining or it's wet... I'll be cursing again for the next 10 mins picking the crud out of my cleats. Then soon as you put your foot down again

pea gravel as it's name implies is in the shape of a pea and normally has a clay type soil underneath so you can guess what the cleat picks up

I bought some Coffee covers that fully cover the cleat so that I can walk in gravel / mud if need be. Last year when I did the Otway Classic I was 'forced' to walk in a lot of mud/fine gravel etc to get to drink / food stations. Shimano will tolerate that fine, but speedplay won't.

I don't bother taking the covers on normal rides though. As others have said, I don't think wear on the base plate is likely to be the failure mode for speedplay cleats.

You can get the Keep on Kovers from BikeBug now i noticed. Going to pop some in the next order from there as insurance against another bruise on the back of my head from slipping on tiles at the local bakery.